The abundance of
new research on how teenage brains work, aside
from being cool for its own sake--teen brains
are developing madly, pruning synapses and
insulating neurons to build a lean computing
machine--is fueling a new movement to help kids
make the most of the brain they've got. Think of
it as a user's manual for a machine that's still
being wired.

One of the leaders
in that movement is Wilkie "Bill" Wilson, a
neuroscientist and director of DukeLEARN, a Duke
University project to teach teenagers the
practical applications of neuroscience.
DukeLEARN's curriculum for 9th-graders won't be
in the schools until 2009, but with the first
homework of the fall already being stuffed into
backpacks, I asked Bill for a sneak preview. He
asked: "How would you like to learn more without
having to study more?" Sign me up! Here's how:

1. Get to
bed and go to sleep. Sleep enables
memory consolidation, which is psych-speak for
saying that you remember stuff after you sleep
on it. What's more, overall performance,
attention, and the ability to concentrate are
damaged by lack of sleep. "So you're hurt in two
ways," Wilson says. Teenagers need nine to 10
hours of sleep a night for optimum performance.

2. Start
studying a few days in advance of a test.
Memories are embedded better if the brain is
exposed to information repeatedly. Cramming
doesn't work, because your brain doesn't have
enough time to embed and consolidate.

3. Feed
your head. The brain is an energy hog,
and it runs badly if it doesn't get high-octane
fuel. That means protein and complex carbs--eggs
and wheat toast for breakfast, say, rather than
sugary cereal and orange juice. The biggest
mistake teens make, Wilson says, is to skip
breakfast or to go for sugar, which raises blood
sugar, followed by a quick crash.

4. Body
exercise is brain exercise. Aerobic
exercise really improves brain function, perhaps
because it increases blood flow, or perhaps
because it reduces stress and anxiety. Exercise
also prompts growth of new brain neurons, at
least in rats. Twenty minutes or so a day of
activity that raises your heart rate will do it.

5. Learn
now what you want to remember for the rest of
your life. Teenage brains are much
better at remembering things on a conscious
level than the brains of young children or
adults. Scientists aren't sure why, but they
know that human brains are primed to notice and
remember what's new, and teenagers are exposed
to lots of new stuff. Whatever the reason, the
teenage years are the time to learn new
languages and acquire other lifelong skills.

6. Harness
the power of risk-taking. The parts of
the brain that drive people to try new, risky,
and exciting things appear to be more developed
in teenagers can be a huge plus. Pick
appropriate challenges--difficult sports, a
tough job, mastering a performance art,
traveling overseas--and the teenage brain is
uniquely primed to tackle them. Wilson says:
"You have this power you're given to go out and
do it without fear."

7. Learn
what you love.. Because emotional
systems develop faster in teenager brains than
do inhibitory systems, teenagers learn things
they're passionate about quickly and well. "Your
brain gives you tools like attention on the
project, focus," Wilson says.

Wilson's project is
a work in progress; Duke LEARN will be testing
whether teaching teenagers how their brains work
will improve academic performance and lead them
to take better care of their brains. But nobody
says you can't do your own experiment, starting
right now.